I love gel! I tried it for PFW for the first time and it’s amazing. It doesn’t chip, it looks just perfect the whole time! But I agree, it’s not something that you do every week… It’s eprfect for holidays, though.
I had my nails done in classic bright red but for my next holidays in April I’m trying something a little bit different! :)

I have gel done on regular basis every two weeks. From time to time a get a break and give my nails and hands some extra treatment like paraffin mask. For me it works great because I hardly have time to do my make-up, not to mention nails. It’s also super convenient when busy traveling.

I never got this crazy with my gel, though. I usually choose a statement color plus moon, or Philip Lim’esque stripes. If I had longer nails I’d probably go for ombre.

I’m a nail polish wh*re. I literally paint my nails between 3-5 times a week (yes, every week). I have never tried gel because I like to paint them myself and enjoy the change. But (there’s always room for a but), I’m extremely obsessed with this nail polish set she’s rocking that I might consider taking the gel plunge for some festive looks. Hmmm, now you’ve got me thinking.

Fun nails! I was also skeptical of gel but they lasted all of two weeks – amazing! I went more conservative with just one shade but must say I did NOT like what it did to my already weak nail beds after. That said, for certain occasions like Fashion Week or Christmas/New Year’s definitely. Not a steady diet.

I’ve been getting gel manicures for about a year and my nails are healthier than ever. The manicure lasts about two weeks — even then it doesn’t chip, but I can see growth above the cuticle so it no longer looks nice.

I’ve never noticed any UV damage to my hands — I mean, think about it — my fingers are exposed to 1 minute after the first coat, 2 minutes each after the next two — so a total of 5 minutes every two weeks! You’d get more than that walking to the grocery store on a sunny day. Put sunscreen on your fingers if you want to, but keep it off your nails or the gel won’t stick.

And, by the way, if you get tired of the gel color you can paint a regular coat of polish on top, and take it off later with non-acetone remover, which won’t touch the gel underneath.

That really is artistic. Alex, can I ask, does it change the way you dress to have such an elaborate manicure? I feel like I’d want to go all monochrome (or close to monochrome) to show it off to the max.

I’ve had gel nails for my wedding and to be real honest with you, I hate them. Especially at the moment I tried to get my lenses into my eyes (and ruined my make-up), open an envelop (which I gave up after a while) and the most annoying one, tried to open the ribbon of my ring pillow. Just impossible with those thick things. Totally lost the feeling in my fingers! Love how it looks. but it took my nailed 5 months to recover afterwords so I skip the gel nail manicure! xx

I think you’re referring to the more permanent version, like acrylic or silk wrap nails, that were quite thick and artificial. Alex seems to have a Shellac gel manicure which is the same thickness as a manicure with traditional polish and only meant to last two weeks. There’s no maintenance or need to fill it in as your nails grow and it’s much less damaging than those permanent versions.

I’ve been doing shellac manicures off and on for the past couple of years. More often now that the range of colors has expanded. J’adore. I love that they are dry instantly. The last two I had were with glittery then metallic polishes and they didn’t chip for three weeks. The gels are no thicker than regular nail polishes–they just look like freshly polished nails for days on end. They’ve made my nails super hard, too. I’ll take a break between them, but I’m a huge fan.

I am quite obsessed with keeping my nail colour perfect so I tend to paint them 1-2 times a week. However, my nails are slightly stained yellow at the tips. Due to the staining, I can’t really rock the sheer nail colour look, as the yellow peeks through underneath! How annoying!

Since you paint your nails quite often, do you find your nail tips get stained as well? If you do, how do you get rid of them? Have you tried the sheer nail look before? Do you like it?

I think gel is the best option when it comes to Fashion Weeks – you at least don’t have to worry about how your nails look.) Plus I can wear gel on my nails for up to three (!) weeks without any chips.